Coconut and Muscovado Sugar Cookies

Hi everyone.

The days are getting shorter, the nights are longer so I am finding myself in need of serious comfort food. Only problem is, comfort food is usually very high in fat and calories so a definite no-no when you are watching your figure and you want to eat healthy.

This recipe is not my lowest in calories because it does contain sugar and fat, but due to the right ingredients, it's still healthier than store-bought cookies and due to the easiness of the recipe, you can whip these up in under 15 minutes...and that's including cooking time!

Ingredients:

 

100 gr muscovado sugar (donkerbruine basterdsuiker)
2 eggs
100 gr white flour
100 gr shredded coconut
2 tbsp soft coconut butter

Way to do it:

1. Add the sugar to the eggs and beat until the mixture starts to lightly foams. About a minute should do it.
2. Add the flour and shredded coconut. Mix again until combined.
3. Add the coconut butter, cut into small pieces and use your mixer to break down the pieces. if some remain, no worries, they will melt in the oven.
4. Line a baking tray with baking paper and design your cookies whichever way you want. You can just make one big cookie and then brake it into pieces, or you can use a spoon to make little scoops. Due to the coconut butter melting, the cookies will spread out substantially.
5. Bake for 12 minutes at 200 degrees C.

I made about 11 big cookies with my mixture and I simply love them.

The Health Benefits
Substituting white sugar by dark brown unrefined sugar means you forgo the 'bad' sugar. Unrefined sugar has no chemicals injected into it and therefore it still contains some nutrients such as calcium, iron, magnesium, & potassium. So you get the taste + a little extra your body can use.

When you choose coconut butter instead of normal butter, you get many benefits. Coconut can lower blood cholesterol, is full of lauric acid which kills bacteria and fatty acids boost brain functions. It's known as a superfood!

The same goes for the shredded coconut. It's high in fat, but high in the good fats, the ones your body does need.

Enjoy
xx

A recipe to enjoy at every time of the day

Hi everyone,

I don't really know what to call this cake, I just know that it's healthy, full of great fats and delicious at any time of the day. You can eat a slice as a little extra for breakfast, you can snack on it or you can enjoy this recipe with a cup of tea in the evening for when those late-night munchies have you running to the pantry.

If you're not a big fan of the 'nutty' taste of buckwheat, don't worry. The honey, apples and raisins make for a great coverup.

Ingredients:

100 gr buckwheat flour
200 gr almond flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
125 yogurt (I used alpro soy natural)
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp sweetener
2 tbsp vegetable oil
A handful of dried raisins
1 apple, peeled and cut into small pieces

Way to do it:

1. Add buckwheat, almond and baking powder in a bowl and mix it untill all dry ingredients are combined.
2. Add egg and yogurt. Mix again. The batter will be crumbly at this point.
3. Add the honey, sweetener and the oil. Mix again and by now, your butter will be thick and sticky.
4. Fold in the apples and raisins with a spoon. Don't mix or you'll bruise the fruit.
5. Take a round, spring-form baking-tin and grease it with oil. Let the excess oil drip out. Pour the batter into the thin and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for 20 minutes.
6. Let cool before you take it out of the tin.
 

 

 

I hope you'll enjoy this recipe. It has more ingredients than I usually use but trust me, it's worth it.
Of course this recipe, just like my others, is very easy to make. No crazy cooking techniques, no long wait, just throw everything into a bowl and GO!

Forget bad fats and say hello to healthy fats from the vegetable oil, almond and yogurt.
Forget bad sugar and wave hi to good sugar from the raisins, honey and apples.

Enjoy
xx

Healthy Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Cookies, again...I know. But these are so delicious and healthy, I need to share.

I've been wanting to make oatmeal cookies for some time now, but after browsing the internet, I just couldn't find a recipe I liked...so I set shop in the kitchen and just went for it. It's amazing these worked out so well, because I just sort of winged it. And thank god for that because this recipe is amazing.

My new favorite cookies...until the next batch of crazy improv baking comes along :D

 

 Ingredients:

70 gr soft butter
50 gr grated coconut (coconut flour, coconut flakes, it's all the same thing)
1,5 tsp baking powder
1 ripe banana
2 tbsp red fruit jam
1 tbsp liquid sweetener
2 eggs
70 gr buckwheat flour
150 gr oatmeal

Way to do it:

1. Put the soft butter in a bowl and mix in the grated coconut. Add the buckwheat flour and baking powder.
2. Add the eggs and mix well.
3. Add the ripe banana and mash it. Then add the jam and the sweetener. You could choose to add more sweetener and omit the jam or the other way around, depending on which you prefer. I prefer to keep it as natural as possible to I went with more jam.
4. Mix everything well until the batter becomes kind off fluffy and then fold in the oatmeal.
5. Divide on a tray lined with baking paper and put in a preheated oven and bake at 170degrees C for about 12 minutes.

While they are cooking, these babies will make your house smell amazing. The aroma of the baked banana is just...mmmm. You'll have husband and kids running for the kitchen.

The cookies do have some fat because of the butter, but you've gotta give a little to get a lot! And in this case, it's taste. What's a little bit of butter when you get the healthy benefits of banana, oatmeal, coconut and buckwheat all in one bite? I'm telling you, keep this recipe in your favorites bar because you'll be making them a lot.

Enjoy
xx

 

Straw- and blueberry buckwheat muffins

No muss, no fuss, just easily made stuff! I bring you a healthy muffin you can whip up in about 20 minutes...and that's counting baking time.

This will be my second recipe with buckwheat after the first one went down so great. My scones were great, and these muffins might even be better!

Browsing through the ingredients, you might notice I didn't use any...let me repeat, ANY butter. I wanted to make a muffin very low in fat so I wouldn't have to feel bad when I wanted a second one...or third...or basically finish the entire batch in 1 day. Yes...I can't control myself from time to time.

Because these babies hold no fat, they are dense and won't come out of paper muffin cups very easily. Therefor I would suggest you make these in silicone cups which you can lightly coat in vegetable oil.

Eat it with a dollop of Greek yogurt or with some agave sirup drizzles over it or just be lazy and eat it like it is, you won't be disappointed either way.

Ingredients:

200gr buckwheat flour
2 eggs
150 ml low fat plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 tbsp liquid sweetner
3 tbsp flax seeds 60 gr strawberries
60 gr blueberries

Way to do it:

1. In a bowl, mix all ingredients apart from the fruit. Mix until everything is combined. It will be a thick, glue like batter.
2. To easily remove the crown of a strawberry, use a straw, it's such a great trick. Cut up the strawberry in pieces and add, with the blueberry, to the mix. Be careful not to smash the fruit as you mix the batter. I would suggest folding them in with a spoon.
3. 
4. Divide over your cups. It's okay to fill them up. The batter doesn't rise much.
5. Bake for 15minutes in a 200degrees oven.
   
 

I love how the strawberry and blueberry make for different colors. So cute and colorful and full of flavour!

Enjoy
xx

Chocolate cake with avocado and banana

May I just say...wow! If I was a religious girl, I would thank the lord. Instead, I'm going to thank nature for blessing us with the combination of chocolate and avocado.

We have to get serious...you can't make a decent cake without butter. It just wouldn't taste right. So if ever we want to indulge, we'll have to settle for a little bit of fat. NOW, that's so not true anymore! Substituting butter with avocado is genious, delicious and healthy. Avocado is fat, yes, but good fat!

If you are looking for a chocolate cake that won't make you feel like a cheater, then look no more. Yummy, rich, healthy and a definite hit with the entire family...my chocolate cake with avocado and banana.

And oh, did I mention this cake is so easy to make?

 

Ingredients:

 

2 ripe avocados
2 ripe bananas
3 eggs
3 tbsp liquid sweetener
100 gr almond flour
100 gr dark cacao powder
100 gr of assortment of nuts (I used almonds, peanuts and cashew)

Way to do it:

1. Cut the avocado's in two and spoon out the flesh. Add with the mashed bananas in a bowl and stir.
2. Add the eggs and whisk until smooth.
3. Add the remaining ingredients (liquid sweetener, almond flour and cacao) and whisk again.
4. Finally gently fold in the nuts.
5. Transfer to a baking tin lined with baking paper and bake for 35mins in a preheated oven at 180degrees C.
 

Let the cake cool before you take it out of the baking tin. You don't need to top the cake with any icing, it's packed full of flavor and it's very moist. However, adding some maple syrup or honey can never go wrong.

A good movie, a cup of great coffee in my new favorite mug (I got it at a second hand store and I'm just so in love with it.) and some home baked deliciousness. Yes...my life is pretty perfect.

Some of you may have already noticed, I'm a baker who loves simple and easy recipes. I don't like to huff and puff in my kitchen and I definitely don't like doing the dishes. So, you can expect many more recipes like this chocolate cake with avocado and banana, easy, yummy and healthy.

If you want to make a cake lower in carb, leave out the bananas and add a little more almond flour. I promise you, it'll taste great. Now if only I would stop myself from taking another piece....

Enjoy and till next time,
xx

Apple buckwheat breakfast scones

Hi everyone, I hope you are doing fine. Summer is just around the corner and that means that the bikini season is ready for kick-off. With it, our bodies need to be in top shape so we can enjoy a summer freed of worries.
I've been experimenting with some new ingredients so watch out, unlike my other posts, this recipe is not really low carb. However it's very healthy due to it's low fat and the addition of buckwheat flour. Buckwheat flour is gluten-free and so amazingly good for you! It has high quality protein, it's rich in iron, very high in antioxidants, it's filled with many minerals and vitamins such as zinc, copper, and niacin and it contains a high level of rutin, which is an anti-cancer agent. Can this get any better?

So for this recipe, I felt like making something a bit less sweet and these apple buckwheat scones are a great way to start of your day. They fill you up, they are delicious and they are also easy to take with you if you don't have time in the mornings for a sit down breakfast. You can keep them for up to three days.

 

Ingredients:

250 gr buckwheat flour
2 tbsp stevia
3 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
100 gr soft butter (not melted)
120 ml low-fat yogurt or cream cheese
2 eggs
1 big apple

Way to do it:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. In a bowl, add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and turn over with a spoon so they are combined.
3. Add small chunks of butter. You don't want to melt the butter, otherwise your dough will not be 'crumbly' enough. It's okay if chunks of butter remain in the batter.
4. Mix in the eggs and cream and turn around with the spoon. Gently add in the apple with your hands. I cut my apple in small cubes. The apple will add a gently touch of sweetness to the scone.
5. Put the dough on your baking tray, lined with baking paper and press down into a circle of about 5cm height. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 200 degrees or until golden.

They are so yummy! The buckwheat gives them a more nutty flavor than regular flour so that's why I didn't add macadamia nuts but of course, feel free to play around with the recipe as much as you like. Try adding blueberries or other kind of fruits to the mix. You won't be disappointed!

You can eat them without anything extra with just a nice mug of coffee or tea, or, I smeared one with jam. Delicious!

Enjoy
xx